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MMA POLL: Should the UFC make teammates fight each other?

With the Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit match in the works as well as a light-heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans we wanted to ask the readers here on BJPENN.COM what you think of these teammate vs. teammate matchups. Sound off in our poll and head back here this Friday when we publish the results!

56 Responses to “MMA POLL: Should the UFC make teammates fight each other?”

Its a jOb they should be forced to fight but on flip side. It may create boring fights and guys not going for the kill. There are plenty of the guys in the UFC that will fight I don’t see this being an issue unless a belt is involved

plus, gsp fights out of Montreal, and might visit coach greg “point fighter” jackson in new mexico once in a while, so gsp and condit are not really team mates or friends. maybe acquainted? have they even rolled or spared with each other? probably not.

I don’t think team mates should be made to fight because if you train and someone for so long, it would end up being a boring fight if they know each others tendencies. Also, if they have the same trainers and coaches, it could create more problems and we’d see fighters at less than peak performance.

It’s basically an individual sport. Yes training together does make you better, but in the end if you’re in the same weightclass and you’re both good enough to go for the belt it’s bound to happen you have to fight eachother at some time in your career.

It’s a bit different from tennisplayers or other individual sports, cause well…you’re basicaly expected to KO a close friend once the door shuts.

I understand the flip side, but there is a good chance your teammates could be standing in the way of your progress through the rankings. It’s a job in the end and if you want to do better and progress you should fight whomever they line up for you. I don’t think they should be forced though. If they don’t want to fight a guy then they shouldn’t have to, but it could end up penalizing them. Jon Jones made the right choice way back when and it has certainly paid off.

i think today its much more of a reasonable option then it was years ago… the sport going back wasn’t really dominated by huge camps filled with top level fighters. everyone kinda came from their own camp, coaches, training partners, even the infamous jackson’s gym was relatively small and unknown boasting only really the likes of rashad, jardine, and a few others. nowadays everyone in the ufc also has a few training partners in the ufc because the sport is dominated by about 5 or 6 huge camps and a few smaller ones. with that landscape it is virtually impossible to keep having contenders without friends/teammates fighting each other. that being said, there is also no reason they shouldnt be able to fight each other. this is NOT a team sport. i was on track n field in highschool and every single meet was competing against people from my team. i know people that wrestled and often had to compete against their teammates at tournaments and invitationals. its competition. get in, fight, be friends again. on top of that with these huge camps there is guaranteed to be enough coaches and training partners for each fighter to utilize and they can just split into teams until the fight and all be friends theres no reason not to be professional about this. and if there isnt enough coaches or training partners the 2 fighters can come to an agreement weather it be via rock paper scissors or something else as to one moving temporarily to a diff camp for the upcoming fight.

I think they should have to fight whoever the UFC matches them with. It might not make the best fight but if you’re the number 1 contender and one of your friends/training partners is the champion you’ve got to take the fight.

In the end everyone who fights in the UFC has the same goal, to be the CHAMP! So a teammate of yours shouldn’t stop you from achieving your goal/dream of becoming champ. When your in the cage it’s you and the person in-front of you only. Your coaches and teammates aren’t the ones throwing the punch and taking the punches. I’ve heard from a lot of fighters that the reason why they chose to become fighters over other sports was because it was not a team sport and you didn’t have to rely on others to perform and win.

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Yes. If someone has a belt it wouldn’t be right to not let someone fight them because they are their team mate. At the end of the day MMA isn’t a team sport. There aren’t rings or trophies for everyone else, there is one belt, one person holds it. If you want it and your team mate has it, you have to fight them.

Of Course they should Fight, if your partner/friend is the Best and you’re Number 2 you have no choice… Look at Pride everyone almost trained with someone they fought eventually because it’s a tournament style match ups… They faced each other multiple times… that’s why they’re almost all friends…

Since when has the UFC forced anyone to fight? If you dont want to fight your friend, dont take the fight, but dont cry when the promotion picks someone who is willing to fight for the prime time slots.

It’s a job, plain and simple. At the end of the day, your work for a company that requires you to fight whoever they match you up with. That’s your contract. If your truly friends, fighting each other because it’s your jobs, it won’t…shouldn’t affect your friendship. If it came down to it, I’d fight my brother to get a title shot, and he would me. We’d still be brothers, and he’d still be my best friend. And whoever wins, one would still be in the other’s corner.

I think most fighters who say they would never fight their teammate, is because they are afraid they might lose because they know each others style and techniques too well. To me, that’s more of a challenge. Any fighter who can over come such challenge and still come out the victor, is a fighter to watch out for.

Its competition. They should fight each other to see who is the best. I have to fight my friends to get better. Get over it. If anything it’ll make you train harder and leave it out on the line to prove you are better than your friend.

I admit that I have never liked fighting my friends but when working the smaller shows it happens all the time. If anything it makes for better fights since we both know each others weakness and go for it. It also helps when we know we have the other against the ropes we usually don’t throw extra punches that are not needed, take for instance the Hendo Bisping fight. That type of show would NEVER happen between team mates.

It’s like Eli not wanting to play Peyton in a future Superbowl. Get over it, you’re playing and you’re fighting. You don’t decide what the match ups are, The UFC does because they are paying you and running the show. With that being said, I wanna see Silva (at 205)vs Machida as soon as possible. Jon Jones can beat down Silva later on. ~BobO

I don’t think they should be MADE to. If they want to pass up the chance of advancing their carrer then that’s up to them. With the respect that a lot of fighters show each other I don’t see why one wouldn’t. Yeah, I understand that it could make some boring fights as you don’t wanna break your friend’s arm in the match, but two professional fighters should be able to fight each other in a professional manner. Consider it an advanced full contact sparring match. And now your teammate knows what to work on in practice (or help you work on).

no one is MADE to ever fight, if the boss tells you to do something you have two options (depending if what he wants you to do is legal or not) you either do what your boss says, or you quit, that simple enough said on the subject. If you don’t want to fight your friends then don’t fight for the same organization or get over it.

Who wants to see a fight with two guys that aren’t motivated to go at each other. Not me. I know fighting is business, but if two guys are like brothers to one another, you may get a sparring session instead.

I don’t think its necessary to HAVE to fight your friend or team mate, it would put a huge strain on the team that would more often than not end in tears, although this is a professional sport but also not a team sport I wouldn’t like to face a friend in the octagon, also chances are the fights wouldn’t have 100% commitment from either fighter

all you guys need to train with a team almost every day and then be forced to fight them. its not right. people you train with you are probably around them more than your own family. you team becomes your family and to fight one of them is just fucked up. and coaches dont want to coach 2 fighters to fight each other. and its notlike you want to leave your team just to fight one of your best friends. so all you people who say they should be forced to “i want you to go to your bedroom, take your shoes off, lie down in your bed, take about 20 or 30 minutes, and go fuck yourself”

see the question was. should ufc force them that i have a problem with. i got no problem if u wanna fight ur team. and idk what i would do in that situation i would talk to the belt holder and my coach and see what they think and go from there

When have you trained or fought in MMA? I have and I HAVE had to fight my team mates. You would not believe how many friends have to fight one another in the smaller shows. Think about it, a show like rage in the cage goes to bum f#ck egypt and they want 10 fights, they have 5 fights already lined up and are going to fill the other 5 with local talent, and guess what once again you are in BFE so you might have 4 in the same weight class so guess what you either don’t fight or you fight a friend. I have had to do it 3 times, each time they were good fights that were finished, twice quickly and the other went half way through the third. ( I won 2 of the 3) after the fight we went out and had a good time together, the next day we started training at the gym together once again. It wasn’t personal and in fact my friend is lucky I was the one that fought him 25 seconds in I dropped him and I knew he was out, instead of jumping on him and punching I simply followed him to the ground (to make sure he wasn’t faking) I looked up at the ref and he waved it off, had it been another fighter he would have surely ate at least 5 extra punches

yes, u wake up as a kid wanting to be the champion,u dont dream about training with your buddies. u dream about being the best at your division or of all time so its really whether you wanna be a real man, which is doing things in life u dont wanna do but have to do to achieve your goals or just be a pussy. Choose one. I choose beating a teammate whether it be ko or sub or dec, and at the end of the day if i was the one to be beat i would wake up a lil confused and a lil pissed off but then id be seeing my buddy wearing the belt, so ya know thats when u gotta be a man again realize u lost and congratulate your friend. Its part of the sport

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